New Concepts in Maritime Detection

Detection in the maritime domain requires the radar return from targets to be distinguishable from the background interference. These radars traditionally use non-coherent processing due to the time-varying and range-varying nature of the Doppler spectra. However, as radar platforms fly higher and look down at steeper angles, the sea clutter power will increase and traditional methods will not be as effective. This talk covers several new approaches for target detection in the maritime domain. The choice of algorithms can be tailored for each lecture and include the use of stationary wavelet transforms to isolate different spectral features, the use of sparse signal separation algorithms including dictionary learning, track-before-detect in the maritime environment, the application of the single snapshot coherent detector and the use of machine learning. Each of these techniques is demonstrated using using either real or realistic simulated sea clutter and demonstrates improved potential when compared to traditional processing methods.